Issue 25: What’s New

Published August 11, 2012

So it’s been about four months since the last Opinion8ed2 was published – the longest drought since I began this project.  It’s not that there wasnt’ anything to write about or I didn’t have anything to say.  The day job has been more demanding than usual and I had some health issues to deal with… but it feels good to be back at the keyboard.

Issue 25 is the usual collection of eclecticity:

 My Incredible Journey  is a semi-satirical account of my health saga based partly on two classics from the 1960s, i.e., the Jules Vernian film entitled The Fantastic Voyage and the Timex watch TV ads narrated by newscaster John Cameron Swayze.  Look past the tongue in cheek to find my sincere heartfelt sentiments.

                Over the past few years I’ve gradually expanded the range of topics to expound upon and this issue marks my second entry into the world of sports journalism.  Many of you know of our loyalty to the NY Mets and of course there hasn’t been a whole lot to get excited about in recent years.  This year, however marked the first time in team history that a Met pitcher threw a no-hitter (Johan Santana, June 1, 2012) and 37-year-old R.A. Dickey threw two one-hitters in a row.  Dickey is leading the league in many pitching stats and is the most exciting Mets pitcher since Dwight Gooden… but he Just Can’t Get No Respect.

Expanding the range of topics still further, Issue 25 contains our first fireworks review.  The Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks display in New York City is majestic and among the world’s best, but is not beyond critique.  Check out Supersized but not Orgasmic.

Every summer we look forward to 10 days of All You Can Watch movies at the Stony Brook Film Festival.  This year’s selections included some great films and some not so great.  No God, No Master is set in the days following World War I where workers were beginning to assert their rights and the rich capitalist robber barons aided by the federal government were running scared and cracking down indiscriminately on immigrants and unions (sound familiar?).  Read all about it.

Happy Trails,

Paul